Little Grebes, Goldeneye and Cormorants were all fishing in water ruffled by a stiff easterly breeze and a Little Egret was trying to fish but constantly harrassed by a juvenile Mute Swan which wouldn’t let it settle in any one spot. Long-tailed Tits called incessantly as they made their way through the trees and we headed to our picnic spot…with a short detour to the NEWT office for me to change my boots after the sole of the pair I’d been wearing came loose as I tried to lift my foot from some very sticky mud at the bottom of a puddle!

The afternoon was similar to recent days out; a stiff breeze and big flocks of birds. Teal,Wigeon, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Greylag, Canada and Pink-footed Geese and Starling all being tossed around on the wind and battling to keep their intended course. Scaup were alongside Tufted Duck and Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank were roosting together, facing into the breeze and taking shelter in the lee of a reedbed. With dusk encroaching on the gloomy daylight Roe Deer were running along field margins, small groups of Starlings coalesced into one extended murmuration that quickly went to roost with the ghostly apparition of a Barn Owl drifting across in front of us marking the point where the light faded to impenetrable.

The best thing about wildife, and at the same time occasionally the most frustrating thing, is that you can’t ever predict exactly what it’s going to do…

I collected Jeff and Helen, and Kevin, from Church Point and we set off for an afternoon around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. The afternoon had an almost constant aural backdrop of Chiffchaff song, and Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Blackbird and Goldcrest all added to the springlike feel of the afternoon. Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher were all probing in gooey mud but with no sign of agitation to suggest that there was an Otter around. A family of Whooper Swans were a reminder that winter is only just behind us, while Swallows and Sand Martins heralded the move towards the summer. Skylark and Meadow Pipit both demonstrated that they’re more than brown and uninteresting, Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards are likely to remain a feature of our Druridge Bay trips for a few months, a handsome Roebuck ran across the fields and vanished behind a hedge and the assembled wildfowl had got their eye on something in the reeds…Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Canada Goose and Greylag Goose were all fixated on one small area of a reedbed. Alert, nervous and barely breaking their gaze they’d obviously spotted something. What though? Whatever it was remained hidden from our sight, although it held the attention of the birds for a long time. The reedbed was probably a much better option than braving the keen northerly breeze!